News of the week

Cryptocurrency Investigation Hits Brazil Banks

The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) has started an investigation into six biggest Brazilian banks for monopolistic practices within cryptocurrency market. CADE is determined to find evidence of “restrictions or even prohibiting … access to the financial system by cryptocurrency brokerages” by the banks.

Sberbank, Alfa-Bank, VTB, and others major Russian banks have expressed their strong interest in working with cryptocurrency and blockchain during the Moscow Exchange on September 20. Right now the banks are tied by the lack of clearly defined regulations in the country, that’s why companies are talking to regulators from Japan, Luxembourg, and Singapore to adapt their experience to local realities.

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Zaif has been hacked on September 14th during a two-hour time frame. Of the $59.67 million stolen, almost $20 million belonged to parent company Tech Bureau, while $40 million belonged to clients of the exchange. The attack could impact how Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) views the cryptocurrency industry as it works on a new regulation.

PKO Bank Polski will launch a blockchain solution for its customer documents in a partnership with UK-based Coinform within days. According to vice president of the bank’s management board, the technology will provide “huge potential to increase the competitiveness of the Polish banking sector”.

Bitcoin and similar digital assets were not used to fund any of the recent terror attacks in Europe, recent Europol report reveals. The 72-page long Internet Organized Threat Assessment 2018 article touches the contribution of cryptocurrencies to crime. “None of the attacks carried out on European soil appear to have been funded via cryptocurrencies. … Their main funding still stems from conventional banking and money remittance services,” the report states.

Over the past 24 hours, major cryptocurrencies in the global market including Bitcoin and Ethereum increased by 2 to 5 percent, as Ripple led the market with a 10 percent gain. Since September 18, within 48 hours, the price of XRP rose by more than 36 percent. In the past seven days, social media activity increased significantly, possibly due to Ripple’s announcement of a new cryptocurrency product by October.